Jump
by CSIVixen
Summary: Sara overhears Grissom and Sofia talking, and takes it the wrong way. She turns to Nick, but when Grissom finds out what's wrong and apologises....what's a girl to do? Will be NS[CH4 up]
1. Overheard

**Title: **Jump

**Summary: **Sara overhears Grissom and Sofia talking, and takes it the wrong way. She turns to Nick, but when Grissom finds out what's wrong and apologises...what's a girl to do?

**Rating: **T for now

**Author's Note: **Yes, there will be some Griss/Sara angst in this. Ending not determined(though pretty predictable if you know me.) Fear not, Snickers, I have not abandoned you :P

**Disclaimer: **If I owned CSI, a disclaimer wouldn't be neccesary, nor would I be writing fanfic.

_**Jump**_

"Let's just go have dinner, then we'll see what happens." Those words stopped Sara dead in her tracks in the middle of the hall. Normally she wouldn't take any notice of what was being said in Grissom's office, especially when the focus of his comment seemed to be Sofia, but that one sentence really threw her for a loop. Grissom, the man who'd turned _her_ down more times than she liked to remember, was now asking _Sofia_ to go to dinner with him. Sara was over Grissom, as much as could be expected after six years of being in almost constant contact with him at work. There would always be that small part of her that felt something for him, though, that one tiny part that didn't want to let go- and it was mainly this part that hurt at Grissom's words. The rest of her was not so much hurt as angry that after six years, Grissom decided to get a life with a woman he'd met last year.

She stormed down the hallway, ignoring the fact that Greg called to her from the break room, and made her way to the locker room in record time. It was almost the end of shift anyway. Once she was there and had her locker open, however, her mind suddenly came to the conclusion that Grissom was going out to dinner with Sofia. She'd heard it but it hadn't quite registered; the full intensity of it hit her at that moment as she sat staring into her open locker. Not only had he asked Sofia out, but he'd used almost the exact words she had all those years ago.

She didn't know how long she's been sitting like that, staring into space, but the next thing she knew, there was a hand on her back and a deep Texan voice speaking to her. She glanced up at him and blinked, not really noticing what he said. He must have seen her vacant expression because he chuckled, and spoke again.

"As I was just saying, staring into an open locker isn't quite one of your normal quirks, Sar. Is something wrong?" Sara rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath. He only caught a few words, but they surprised him. 'Grissom...Sofia...dinner..._six_ years...'

"Hey, now, bit louder, please?" He asked, wondering if he'd heard her right.

"Grissom. Asked Sofia to dinner. He's known her what, a year? And six years ago he wouldn't even give me a chance!" The ferocity in her voice astounded him. This wasn't the Sara he was used to. He'd known- hell, they'd all known- that she'd had a thing for Grissom when she came to Vegas, and nothing had ever happened. But whatever thing she'd had for him seemed to dissapate over the last two years or so. It had morphed into that she rarely mentioned him as anything other than her boss, if at all, whereas when she'd arrived it had been pretty much 'he called _me_ to work here' and she'd obviously idolised him. Nick could tell that she wasn't so much upset at the fact that it wasn't her Grissom wanted, but more that he wanted anyone at all. He could understand that; Grissom chose the strangest times to do things other people did on a regular basis.

Or semi-regular basis. Nick himself hadn't actually been dating anyone since well before his abduction. In fact, he could trace back to the exact moment when he'd started comparing every girl he met to a certain brunette: the day he and said brunette had worked a case involving one of the chapels on the Strip, and the alien minister had told him "She's gonna getcha!" Those words had stuck in Nick's head and replayed themselves over and over without his consent. Not that it really mattered, he didn't really want to get thoughts of Sara out of his head. If it weren't for the fact that she was his best friend- well, best female friend anyway- and that he was sure she only saw him as a friend, or at the most in a brotherly way, he'd probably have made a move by now. As it was, since his abduction they'd been spending more time together, both on their own and with Greg and Catherine, since Warrick had been busy with Tina for the most part. Truth be told, while he enjoyed the company of Greg and Cath, he liked being on his own with Sara more. She'd come over and they'd watch a movie or cook something. Once she'd even brought over a guitar and taught him a few little things. Another image that stayed firmly imprinted in his brain: Sara Sidle, the workaholic, standing in his living room with bare feet, jeans, a tank top and a black guitar, looking sexy as hell and oblivious to everything but what she was playing. He'd been surprised she could play, but she'd explained that after her DUI, she'd needed something to escape, and guitar just seemed to be it.

Shaking those thoughts out of his head so he could focus on the matter at hand, he realised that she'd returned to staring moodily into her locker. He reached out his hand again and rubbed her back.

"You wanna go grab breakfast? It's on me. You can vent all you want," he said quietly. She turned to him with a small smile.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into, Nick," she said with a hint of laughter in her voice. Grabbing her purse and slamming her locker, she stood up, as did Nick. They made their way out toward the parking lot, and Nick tried to supress the grin that spread over his face when she didn't move away from his arm, which had moved to around her waist.

As they passed the break room, its occupants- namely Catherine and Warrick- exchanged smug looks. Some people just couldn't see what was right in front of them.

----------

They ended up deciding to head over to Sara's instead of going to the diner when Nick noticed Grissom's SUV in the parking lot. He had pointed out that it was unlikely for Griss and Sofia to be having dinner now, since it was about ten AM, but Sara just shook her head and said she didn't want to see Grissom anyway. Nick just shrugged; chances were, they'd be spending more time together if they went to her house. Deep down, he knew it was sort of pathetic, that he was this eager to spend time with her, but he couldn't help himself. He wondered how she could be this addictive and not know it, and how Grissom could have denied her.

----------

"I just don't know anymore," Sara said, her head in her hands. She and Nick had migrated from the kitchen to the living room, where she was sitting cross-legged on one end of the couch with Nick next to her, torn between wanting to hug her and giving in to temptation and kissing her.

"I mean, there's always going to be a part of that won't give up on him. It's completely insane. But it's a very, very, _very_ tiny part. It's the only part of me that actually hurts, really...the rest is just completely pissed off." She sighed and looked up at him. "It's not even so much that it's Sofia, not me. I mean, that's what it would've been a few years ago. But it's more like...why now? Why now instead of a few years ago? He's the hardest person to figure out I've ever met, and that's including Catherine." Nick laughed, both at the fact that he'd been right and the comment about Catherine. Sara and Catherine's on-again off-again friendship was practically the stuff of legend around the lab. Almost nobody understood how they could be friendly one moment and at each other's throats practically the next.

"Yeah, he's a mystery all right. It's just the way he is, though, he wouldn't be Grissom if he wasn't the mysterious bugman. I swear, though, if I see one more chocolate covered grasshopper I'm gonna hurl..." Sara burst out laughing. The expression on his face was one of someone who'd probably been made to eat at least one of those grasshoppers without knowing beforehand what they were. He grinned at her, glad that she was laughing, and joined in. This ended up in a tickle fight, and five minutes later they both ran out of steam and sat back, Sara resting her head on Nick's shoulder, both reveling in their closeness. Sara would never admit it to anyone, least of all Nick, but he'd been one of the reasons she'd been over Grissom for so long instead of still pining for him like she had been. Somewhere between the jokes and the playful flirting, she'd fallen hard for her best friend. She'd never told anyone, never written it anywhere, never whispered it to the darkness like she had when she was a kid, believing that maybe he'd hear the wish that was in her heart. It had always seemed one of those things that seemed like it would disappear if she focused on it too long, and much as she knew how much wanting someone you couldn't have hurt, she also knew that she needed something to hold on to so she didn't slip straight back to Grissom. Nick had always been her strength, in a way, even if it was just being there with his smile and his accent and his heart, big enough to try and solve everyone's problems. She looked up at him.

"Thanks for coming. You mean a lot to me, Nick," she said, leaning up toward him to kiss him on the cheek. She wasn't expecting him to turn his head, so their lips met. Both froze for a moment in shock, before Nick came to his senses and realised that she was kissing him. Mistake or no, he wanted to keep it up as long as possible, and the prevailing thought in his mind was that he was doing what he'd wanted to do for a year.

Sara's thoughts were close to the same. She hadn't meant to actually _kiss_ him, but as long as she had the chance, she'd take it. She was well aware that what they were doing now could change their friendship forever, but from Nick's reaction, it just might be for the better. They clung together, there on Sara's couch, each somehow afraid that if they let go the other would hate them forever.

When the need for oxygen became too great, they slowly drew apart. Sara bit her lip nervously and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Should I be apologising?" She asked quietly after a moment. Nick shook his head.

"No...no, definetely not." There was a brief pause, surprisingly unawkward. "Should I be?" He added.

"No." The locked eyes for a moment, both suddenly aware how much and yet how little had changed. Their feelings were the same as ever; but now they were both aware of the others'. They shared small smiles and Nick pulled her a little closer to him. She curled closer to him, suddenly realising something.

"Good old Grissom," she said with a laugh. "Remind me to thank him for pissing me off earlier!" They both started laughing again, imagining the look on Grissom's face if Sara actually followed through on that.


	2. Stick 'em up!

**Chapter Two**

"So you're saying this chick is innocent?" Greg said, puzzlement evident in his voice. He, Nick and Sara had been working a dead DJ, and Greg's bet had been on the ex-girlfriend, who'd found the body. 'Hell hath no fury,' he'd quoted, and Nick had sent Sara a look that clearly said, 'No kidding,' which Greg of course didn't notice.

"Yeah, she's innocent. Knife with the guy's blood on it, found in his boss' desk drawer, prints all over it from one person- the boss. The girl's innocent, Greggo," Sara said smugly. Greg rolled his eyes.

"And of course, I'm stuck here looking through that garbage bag while you two go and figure that out. Figures..."

"Well you looked so happy looking through that, we figured we'd leave you," Nick teased. Their conversation was cut short as Grissom walked in. Sara tensed immediatly, the smile fading from her face, earning her a concerned look from Nick. Grissom, oblivious as usual, it seemed, immediatly started talking.

"Alright, since you three are done your case, Greg, Warrick needs help with a B&E, it's pretty messy so lots of evidence to be logged..." Greg stood and stretched, making his way out of the room.

"Yay, logging evidence, my area of expertise..." he said, making a face at Sara and Nick.

"You two, one of you can finish the paperwork of this case and the other one gets to go work a different case." He looked at them over the rims of his glasses. "You can pick."

"I'll take paperwork, I know you hate it, Sar," Nick said with a grin. She rolled her eyes.

"You're my hero, Nicky. What's the case, Grissom?"

"You'll be helping Sofia with a murder at the Bellagio, husband and wife, looks like a murder-suicide but then again I haven't been there. She's about to leave, I'll give her a heads-up that you'll be meeting her downstairs in a couple minutes." And with that he was gone. Nick glanced over at Sara, who was staring into space again.

"You wanna switch? You and Sofia in the same room might not be a good idea..." he offered.

"Nah, I'm good...I'll have to talk to her sooner or later...might as well be sooner, when I have a case to think about. I'll talk to you later, Nicky." She stood up and walked past Nick to head out the door, and as she passed him he reached out and pulled her closer.

"I'll see you after shift, then?" he asked. She grinned back.

"You bet. I'll call you when I get back to the lab." Leaning down, she gave him a quick kiss and left, waving goodbye as she prepared herself to talk to Sofia and pretend she had no problem with the blonde.

--------

In all honesty, he hadn't been going back to spy on Nick and Sara. More like checking up on them. While he _had_ only been gone for maybe thirty seconds, he hadn't seen Sara go past yet. What he hadn't expected, however, was seeing Nick slide an arm around Sara's waist as she was leaving; nor had he expected to see her let him. Even less expected was Sara grinning at Nick and leaning over to kiss him.

It was all he could do not to storm in there and ask what was happening, but he knew he had no right. He and Sara weren't involved; there wasn't anything in the rules that could stop Sara and Nick seeing each other, if they even were. But he couldn't stop the small wave of anger from running through him when he saw Sara leave and head towards the locker room, without even seeing him, and Nick, in the break room, finish his coffee and reach for the case file with a smile on his face.

--------

It was almost six hours later by the time Sofia and Sara returned to the lab. That time had passed by without incident- between Sara and Sofia, at least. There had been a small commotion in the lobby when the son of the dead couple saw them carrying something of his mother's in an evidence bag, and had freaked out. It had taken close to fifteen minutes to calm him down and assure him that it was protocol, that they were following up pretty much anything they could, and that he could get it back when they were finished. Neither CSI was eager to look over the evidence that shift, seeing as there was only half an hour left and they were both tired, so they decided to log it into the vault and re-open it the next day. On their way back to the car for their second load of evidence, Sara decided to call Nick- who probably hadn't moved from the break room- and ask him to have coffee ready...hopefully Greg's Blue Hawaiian.

"Hey, Sofia, want me to call Nick and have him have coffee ready for us? I doubt he's moved from the break room."

"Yeah, sure, coffee would be great...ask him to make mine black, please, it's too late for anything less." Sofia said with a smile, slightly surprised at Sara's attitude. She'd never really had a problem with Sara, but the brunette had always seemed slightly cold and distant towards her. Sara smiled back and pulled out her phone.

"Stokes," said the voice at the other end.

"Hey Nicky...it's Sara."

"Oh, hey Sar. You and Sofia finished the scene?"

"Yeah, pretty much. We have to go back for interrogation at some point, fun...Anyway, I was wondering...Sofia and me are bringing evidence in right now, into the vault, cause we're both pretty tired, would you mind getting some coffee ready for us?"

"Yeah, sure, I'm finished paperwork anyway. Me and 'Rick were just teasing Greg..."

"Ooh, do spill...yeah, Sofia asked for black and you know how I like my one-hour-left-in-the-shift coffee," she teased. That, in fact, had been the subject of one of their conversations just the night before, when Greg had commented about the fact that the amount of milk and sugar in Sara's coffee seemed to go down as the hours dwindled until it was just black.

"Oh, of course..." Through the phone, she could hear Nick get up and head over to the coffee pot, calling over his shoulder, "Aren't you lucky Greg, you have the honour of two lovely ladies asking for your coffee..." His voice clearer as he turned back to the phone, he said, "Yeah, it seems Greg had a little run-in with one of those motion-activated things. 'Rick sent him into the back of the store to check out the damage there, and every time Greg moved he'd hear stuff like 'I'm gonna getcha!' and 'Stick 'em up!', so after like ten minutes Warrick figured okay, Sanders must've found SOMETHING to keep him there for that long, he was only supposed to check if there was damage...So he walks in, find Sanders standing stock-still in the middle of the room, hands in the air and practically shaking." Nick paused for a moment while Sara finished laughing, then added, "And apparantly, Greg has decided he's never going near anything motion-activated again if he can help it." In the background she could hear Greg protesting.

"You just had to tell her that...come _on_ man..."

"Oh...boy..._that_ was priceless...what I wouldn't give to have seen that. Anyway I've gotta go, I'll talk to you in about..." she eyed the pile of evidence bags appraisingly, "...ten minutes."

"Alright, see ya soon Sar." She couldn't keep the smile off her face as she clicked her phone shut and picked up another load of bags to carry.

---------

Heading towards the break room, Sara grinned when she saw that Greg had his back to the door. Putting a finger to her lips to stop Nick from saying hello, she snuck up behind Greg.

"Stick 'em up!" She said, right in his ear. He whirled around and she, Nick and Warrick burst into laughter. Sofia stood there, eyebrow raised, wondering what in the world was going on.

"Sanders had an encounter with one of those motion-activated gangsters at our B&E," Warrick explained. "It was saying things like, as Sara demonstrated, 'stick 'em up', and Greg here was standing there for ten minutes thinking he was about to be shot." Sofia chuckled and shook her head as Greg slumped lower in his chair.

"I'm never going to live this down, am I?" He mumbled under his breath. Sara reached over to ruffle his hair.

"Sure you will. We all have our moments, yours was just a little out of the ordinary. At least the guy wasn't real." Turning to Nick, she asked, "Coffee?" He nodded to the steaming cup that was next to him and she sat down, immediatly picking it up. "I'm guessing from your comment to Greg when we were on the phone that this is Greg's Blue Hawaiian?" she asked.

"Yup." He laughed as Sara grinned and took a sip. "So how was the scene?" He was asking about Sofia and he and Sara both knew it.

"Pretty good. Small ruckus with the son of the couple but nothing other than that." Nick nodded and squeezed her hand under the table as Sofia sat down next to Sara and picked up her own coffee. Warrick turned his attention from Greg to Sofia.

"So how'd dinner with Grissom go?" It was all Sara could do to keep her mouth from dropping open in shock. _Warrick_ knew about it?

"Pretty well. We got a lot done, I think he's learning to trust me," she said with a grin. Staring into her coffee cup, Sara didn't really hear much else. Nick, on the other hand, was actually curious as to what had actually happened.

"Dinner with Grissom? That's different. He's normally pretty anti-social," he commented.

"Yeah, it had to do with the case I was working last week with one of the guys from days. He apparantly went to Ecklie and said I'd screwed something up, so Grissom wanted to talk to me. It was the end of shift so he said we should grab dinner and finish talking later," she explained. Nick nodded.

"Sounds like our Griss." He was inwardly shaking his head. Sara had jumped to conclusions...although, from what she'd heard, he probably would've figured the same thing. He squeezed her hand again and she looked up at him, eyebrow raised. He grinned at her, then let go of her hand and stood up. "Well, I'm beat, guys. Paperwork does that to ya," he said with a wink as he headed out the door.

"Actually, I think I'm gonna head home as well," Sara added. "And scenes are more tiring than paperwork, Nick," she called to his retreating back. She finished her coffee, grabbed her cup and Nick's and put them in the sink, and left, waving at the others.

--------

"Did you hear any of what Sofia said?" Nick asked Sara as she came into the locker room.

"No. Although I'm guessing from the look on your face that it was good?"

"Dinner was because someone on days said Sofia screwed up a case she worked with them, and Grissom wanted to talk about it." Nick told her.

"...Oh..."

"But, the conclusion you got to was possible, given that you didn't know the whole story and heard him say, like, one sentence," Nick pointed out. Sara shrugged.

"It doesn't really matter."

"Guess not." Nick pulled Sara into a hug. "You coming over? I'll make pancakes or something..."

"Yup. Wouldn't miss it," Sara said with a grin.

--------

**Author's Note: **Second chapter :) Tada. I've got the whole storyline for this planned out -grin-

Thanks to: **Baby23**, **AnMaDeRoNi**, **hockeymom**, ** bomber6**, **I want George**, **Cherrydrops12**, **Cheryl**, **Mma63**, **NickGilGreggonumber1fan**(wow that was a mouthful to type :P), **loose-cannon-with-a-gun** and **Adie24 **for your reviews! Made my day :)

**Up Next: **Sara and Grissom talk and this time, it's Nick jumping to the wrong conclusion...Sofia becomes an unexpected ally...and I actually include a Kelly Clarkson song in a fic ;)


	3. Gone

**Title: **Jump

**Summary: **Sara overhears Grissom and Sofia talking, and takes it the wrong way. She turns to Nick, but when Grissom finds out what's wrong and apologises...what's a girl to do?

**Rating: **T for now

**Author's Note: **Chapter three!

**Disclaimer: **If I owned CSI, a disclaimer wouldn't be neccessary, nor would I be writing fanfic.

**Chapter Three**

He sat there, holed up in his dark office, as he usually did right before shift ended, just thinking over the shift, making sure in his mind that things had run smoothly. Today, however, there was one thought nagging at his mind, one moment replaying itself over and over: Sara kissing Nick in the break room. A thousand feelings ran through him each time he saw the kiss: jealousy, anger, regret, the feeling that he had to do something about it. Deep down in his core he knew he shouldn't do anything; he'd had his chance with her, and turned it down. But the prevailing thought was that Sara, _his_ Sara, had kissed Nick in the break room, where anyone could see it. Deep down, he knew it was selfish, knew it was stupid, ridiculous even, but he had an irrational desire to talk to her, and an even more irrational hope that she'd drop Nick and come to him because of it... Now, he knew that he wanted her, and he wouldn't give up until he had her.

--------

"I can't believe you messed up pancakes, Nick," Sara teased him later that day as they headed into the lab. He threw a grin over his shoulder to her.

"I had ample distraction, don't you think?" He retorted. And he had. He'd been making the batter with Sara sitting on the counter next to him, throwing random comments in Nick's direction. Once the pancakes had actually gone onto the griddle, he'd tackled her on the living room couch and there they'd stayed until they noticed the smell of something burning.

"I guess so," she tossed back with a wink. She slid her hand into his and as they walked towards the locker room they slid into a comfortable silence.

--------

Nobody really noticed him when he sat there, in his chair, with the lights off. There, surrounded by his specimens, in the dark, he could observe others and they'd just assume there was nobody there because they couldn't see him. Typical of humans, he supposed, not noticing what you can't see. 'But it's what you can see,' he mused, 'that stays with you and haunts you.' And there was enough material for a haunting, as well. Now, along with the kiss, he had Sara and Nick walking down the hallway, hand in hand, oblivious to the fact that he could see them and was watching them like a hawk. That, more than anything, made him want to talk to Sara more. So when Warrick, Nick and Greg were all free at the beginning of shift, it was Nick to whom he gave the case in Lake Mead. His plan would be put into action tonight.

He had noticed that she'd gone out of her way to not talk to him more than necessary over the past few days; the perfect excuse to talk to her. And then he'd state his case, make her see that Nick wasn't the man she needed...

--------

The shift went by quickly. Sara and Sophia were packing up their evidence when Catherine poked her head into the layout room.

"Would one of you guys mind getting Linds from home and dropping her off at her volleyball practice? My mother had to go see someone and I can't get away right now."

"Uh...Cath? It's seven in the morning," Sara pointed out.

"Yeah, the coach has decided to torture parents who work nights, I guess. But would one of you do it? Please? I'll owe you lunch or breakfast or whatever the hell this crazy schedule calls it..."

"Yeah, I'll do it...you'll be good for a bit, Sofia?" Sara asked.

"Sure. It's just about time to call it a day...well, night, anyway," the blonde replied. Sara nodded and grinned at Cath.

"Address of the school?"

After jotting down the address that Catherine had gratefully given her and making sure that Sofia had everything taken care of, she headed out toward the parking lot. The plan in her mind was to bring Lindsay to her practice, come back to the lab to get Nick, and both of them would head over to Nick's for food and sleep.

--------

There she was, probably heading home. Time to put his plan in action.

--------

"Sara!" The call came from behind her, from Grissom's office. Freezing in mid-stride, she turned slowly.

"Yes?"

"I'd like to speak with you for a moment, please," he said, turning back to his office.

"Grissom I kinda need-" she started, but gave up when she realised he wasn't going to turn back. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she walked back and hoped that whatever he wanted, it wouldn't take long.

--------

There she came, stalking into his office. She looked like a goddess, in his opinion, albeit an angry one. A flash of anger ran through him at the fact that she was with Nick, but it was quickly overrun by the thought that she would, of course, come back to him.

"Sit down," he said, indicating the chair on the other side of the desk. He noticed that she seemed slightly agitated.

"Grissom, this really isn't the time, I've got to-"

"This'll just take a moment. I've noticed that you've seemed kind of distanced around me lately. Is there something you want to tell me?"

--------

It was all Sara could do to keep her mouth shut and her eyes from widening. Not that she hadn't expected him to notice- he was, after all, a CSI- but she had definetely not expected him to mention it.

"Not...really. I've just been pretty preoccupied, stuff's been changing and that's about it."

"Has it been or will it be interfering with your work in the field?" The realisation that all he really cared about was the integrity of the team dawned on her, and she let out an inward sigh of relief. She shook her head.

"No, it'll be fine. And now, if you don't mind, I have to go pick up Lindsay, Catherine's busy and I said I would." She stood up and started towards the door, barely registering the hand on her arm before she was pushed against the desk and in a position she would have killed to be in even two years ago- being kissed by Gil Grissom.

--------

Warrick walked down the hall with Nick, towards the break room. They'd just gotten back from Lake Mead and both men were ready for a dose of coffee before looking over the evidence. Passing by Grissom's office, Warrick noticed Nick suddenly go tense and freeze. Following his friend's eyes, he looked through the window to see Grissom and Sara- kissing. Without a word, Nick turned to go, and Warrick could tell that this was something that wasn't good at all. Turning back, hoping they'd been seeing things, he saw Sara start to react to Grissom- although probably not the way he'd planned. She was pushing him off, and even Warrick, out in the hall, could hear her shouting.

"I can't believe you! What exactly is your problem?"

"_I _don't have a problem."

"Then what the hell are you doing kissing me? In the middle of the lab, no less, after you wouldn't even go out to dinner with me, six years ago? After you told a suspect that you'd take your job over me? After I've moved on?" Her voice was bordering on hysteria, and Warrick could tell that something important was going to happen.

"Nick isn't the man for you. I saw you kiss him-"

"Then you should've known not to do anything to me! I don't take these things lightly, and I'd have hoped that even the way our friendship has been going over the past while- downhill, might I add- that you'd at least have remembered that. Now _if_ you don't mind, _I've_ got things to do. And if you touch me again I'll see to it that something happens." She stormed out, practically crashing into Warrick.

"Hey, Sara, where's the fire?" He asked, hoping to lighten her up a bit. All he got was a scowl.

"In Grissom's head. It's wrecked his brain cells. That man has the worst timing I've ever heard of..."

"You can say that again..." Warrick answered. Sara shrugged.

"I'm trying to calm down, Cath asked me to pick up Lindsay for a volleyball practice...so I should really go. Is Nick back? We were gonna go for breakfast after shift."

Warrick shifted uneasily.

"Well...about Nick. There's a little problem with that...he's probably very pissed at you right now?"

"Pissed? What for?" She asked, before her eyes widened in shock. "He saw...shit, please tell me he didn't see..."

"Yeah, and he left before your little outburst, too. I'm sorry, Sar..."

"Warrick, what am I going to do? I don't want him to hate me, he's going to hate me, he probably won't even let me explain..." Her voice was edging toward the edge of hysterics again, and Warrick reached out and took hold of her shoulders.

"You listen to me, Sara, and you listen good. Nick loves you, I've seen it, Cath's seen it, hell, Greg's seen it for ages. Grissom saw it, which is why he tried to do what he did, because he finally saw that you'd gotten a clue. But if Nick's anything, he's hot-headed. Give him some time to cool down, then talk to him. And if he won't talk to you, I'll tell him that I know what really happened, and that he should talk to you, and that if he gives you up, it'll be the worst thing he's ever done. Now you go pick up Linds, drop her off, then go home, blast some music for a while, relax, and let off some steam. Call me or Cath if you need to talk. Then go talk to Nick, just not on the phone. In person." He looked directly into her eyes. "You hear me?" She nodded silently and he pulled her into a friendly hug. "Good girl. Now get going, and I wanna see you and Nick back here together, tomorrow, 'kay?" She nodded again and let a small smile go past her lips.

"Thanks Warrick. This really means a lot."

--------Twenty Minutes Later--------

"Hey Sara!" Lindsay called as she ran out to the SUV. She was carrying her backpack and gym bag, which she promptly threw in the back seat before jumping in front. "Our coach is going insane. We're training to beat the best team of the league, pretty much. I'm _so_ glad I made the A team, though, we're really good." Sara smiled to hear Lindsay talking about her sports. "And Mom let me get the new Kelly Clarkson CD that I wanted, do you mind if I play it? She's really awesome, you have to hear this one song, it's my favourite!" Sara laughed.

"Sure Linds, put it in." The girl grinned and reached back into a pocket of her backpack, pulling out a CD case. Sliding the CD into the player, she skipped through the songs.

_What you see's not what you get  
With you there's just no measurement  
No way to tell what's real from what isn't there  
Your eyes they sparkle  
That's all changed into lies that drop like acid rain  
You washed away the best of me  
You don't care_

Sara listened to the song, surprised at how well it seemed to fit her situation.

_You know you did it  
I'm gone  
To find someone to live for  
In this world  
There's no light at the end of the tunnel tonight  
Just a bridge that I gotta burn  
You're wrong  
If you think you can walk right through my door  
That is just so you  
Coming back when I've finally moved on  
I'm already gone_

Teenage heartbreak anthems weren't usually within Sara's taste of music, but this one actually seemed worth her while. Glancing over at Lindsay, she smiled to see her sitting there, singing along to the music like there was no tomorrow._  
_

_Sometimes shattered  
Never open  
Nothing matters  
When you're broken  
That was me whenever I was with you  
Always ending  
Always over  
Back and forth, up and down like a rollercoaster  
I am breaking  
That habit  
Today_

And hadn't she broken a habit? She'd gotten over Grissom. She'd found her someone to live for- Nick.__

You know you did it  
I'm gone  
To find someone to live for  
In this world  
There's no light at the end of the tunnel tonight  
Just a bridge that I gotta burn  
You're wrong  
If you think you can walk right through my door  
That is just so you  
Coming back when I've finally moved on  
I'm already gone

There is nothing you can say  
Sorry doesn't cut it, babe  
Take the hint and walk away  
'Cause I'm gone  
Doesn't matter what you do  
It's what you did that's hurting you  
All I needed was the truth  
Now I'm gone

What you see's not what you get  
What you see's not what you get

You know you did it  
I'm gone  
To find someone to live for  
In this world  
There's no light at the end of the tunnel tonight  
Just a bridge that I gotta burn  
You're wrong  
If you think you can walk right through my door  
That is just so you  
Coming back when I've finally moved on  
I'm already gone  
I'm already gone  
Oh, I'm already gone, gone, gone, gone  
Already gone  
I'm gone

Time to print out these lyrics and send them to Grissom. Or buy the CD and blast it in the lab, either way. 'Although Greg may have a heart attack at the prospect of Kelly Clarkson in the lab...' she mused.

Fifteen minutes later, after dropping Lindsay off, Sara found herself at the mall close to her apartment. Warrick had said let off some steam- why not try to learn to play that song? It might shock her neighbors, but oh well. Let them be shocked at their thirty-four-year-old neighbour blasting teenage pop.

--------

**Author's Note: **Wow, this chapter was a long time in coming! Sorry guys! I've been really busy with school and stuff happening in my personal life -cough- first boyfriend, and my mother's freaking out -cough- but I'll try to update more often. My other fic, Dinner Gone Bad, is also being worked on, I swear!

**Review Thanks: **_heartagram69, AnMaDeRoNi, loose-cannon-with-a-gun, Baby23-Misery, TheWolfInTheShadows, forensicsfan:_ Wow, I'm honored to have a review from you! I love your writing! _, DarkDreamer56: _Again, I'm honored, and I love your writing as well! _, Bomber6, I Want George, bubble cat, Mma63, & BeTrAyEd DaUgHtErS_!

**Up Next: **What will happen between Sara and Nick? Will Sara actually tempt death and play Kelly Clarkson in the lab where Greg could hear it? And how will Sara react to Sofia trying to be friendly due to recent events?

-waves pendulum- the "Submit Review" button is calling your name...


	4. Hear me out

**Title: **Jump

**Summary: **Sara overhears Grissom and Sofia talking, and takes it the wrong way. She turns to Nick, but when Grissom finds out what's wrong and apologises...what's a girl to do?

**Rating: **T for now

**Author's Note: **Ooh, how many people hate me now? ;-) Muahaha. It'll get better, I swear. No promises on when however -coughcough-

**Disclaimer: **If I owned CSI, a disclaimer wouldn't be neccessary, nor would I be writing fanfic.

**Chapter Four**

That night, Sara just sat down in the middle of the floor, plucking out notes on her guitar, trying to play that song. Suddenly frustrated, she gave up and started pacing around her apartment, staring at the phone. Finally, she grabbed it and started dialing Nick's number.

---------

He stared into space, barely registering the click of the answering machine until he heard Sara's voice.

"Nick...I...Look, I need to talk to you...please pick up...pick up or I'm coming over, you _need_ to hear this...please?" The tone in her voice almost made him pick up, almost broke him down. But the sight of her kissing Grissom wouldn't leave him alone, so he stopped himself from reaching out. The machine clicked off and he didn't move, just stayed where he was, staring outside at the slowly lightening sky.

Minutes later, hours later, he didn't know, but he heard the knock on the door resound in the otherwise silent house. He knew it was her. Slowly he got up. The knocking didn't stop, only became more insistant. He reached the door, opened it a crack and looked out at her.

"What?" He was slightly surprised to see that her eyes were red, like she'd been crying; but even so, they still had that fierce, not-giving-up look in them.

"You should know what. Let me in."

"Why let you in? You could just go back to the lab, to-"

"Don't even _think_ of saying that, Nick," she hissed, and he was surprised at the ferocity in her voice.

"Why not? I know what I saw."

"No, you don't. So if you'd let me explain-"

"Nothing _to _explain, Sara. I should've expected something like this would happen. What was it you said? 'There will always be a part of me that still loves him'? What was I, then? A distraction until he noticed you?" He shut the door and locked it, leaning back against the wall. He could still see her there, and he could just hear her answer:

"You were everything..." He almost moved to open the door then, but she was walking, almost running, to her car. He watched her get in and sit there for a moment, head buried in her arms, before she sat up and drove off.

--------

"Sara?" Sofia sighed when her co-worker didn't respond. She'd stormed into the lab, three hours early, only to throw herself down on the break room couch and hadn't moved since. "_Sara_!" _That _got her attention.

"What?"

"You don't look so good. You sure you should be at work?" Sofia asked. Sara just shrugged.

"Better work than home."

"What about Nick? Aren't you always with him?"

Sara opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She leaned her head in her hands and Sofia, worried, sat down beside her.

"Sara? What's wrong? Did something happen with Nick?" Immediatly she regretted mentioning his name again as Sara retreated into herself again, pulling away from Sofia. "Alright, that's not the best thing to say...look, there's an hour til shift, we're getting out of here."

--------

Ten minutes later, Sara and Sofia were in a booth at the diner, Sofia trying to get the brunette out of her shell. She had opened up enough that Sofia could gather that Grissom was the root of the problem- not quite a surprise- but not much else. Finally she sighed.

"Sara. We're not moving until you tell me what's wrong. You can't work properly when you're like this."

"Can so." Sara replied, still not meeting Sofia's eyes.

"No, you can't. I've been there, when you hurt so much you can't concentrate on anything. And believe me, the best thing is to talk to someone."

Sara finally looked up at Sofia's eyes. "Alright then. How much did you know about me and Grissom from before you were transferred?"

"Not much. Were you..."

"Nope, we were never together," Sara replied, shaking her head. "But I wished we were. I was...pretty infatuated with him, I guess. I got over it. But it was like there was always a tiny part of me that wouldn't let go, and that just totally bugged me. He'd just never respond to me, no matter what. And then Nick came along, like he always did, calmed me down after one more time that I was pissed at Grissom, and things just happened. I kissed him by accident and then we were just...together." She lapsed into silence again.

"And then?" Prompted Sofia.

"And then Grissom decided to get his sorry ass into gear," Sara replied, eyes darkening in anger at the memory. "Cath asked me to drive Lindsay to her volleyball practice, and Grissom called me over. He said some stuff, I answered with the most polite version of 'whatever' I could, and started leaving...and he just grabbed me. Pushed me against the desk. And Nick saw, he was coming back from his case, he saw, and then I went to talk to him and he wouldn't let me explain..." She slumped forward, burying her head in her arms again, and Sofia could tell that if she wasn't crying, she would be soon.

"You do realise that you could probably get Grissom fired if you-"

"Yeah, I realise that. And I don't want him _fired_. He's a prick, yeah, and has some issues with his feelings, but he's a damn good CSI and a good leader to the team."

"Sometimes you amaze me, Sidle," Sofia said, shaking her head. Glancing over at the brunette, whose only response had been to arch her eyebrows, she elaborated. "You must be the only woman I know who could have taken being rejected all those years, find someone, have the original guy come to his senses only for you to push him away and have the second guy mad at you, and still be ready to go into work the next day."

"Yeah, well. It's a distraction. And sometimes I need that." Sara replied with a shrug.

"Now, we just need Nick to talk to you," Sofia said, returning to the businesslike manner Sara had often seen her use with suspects.

"I already tried that. He won't talk to me."

"Keep in mind that while Grissom may have forced you into it, Nick obviously didn't see that. He's probably as hurt as you were, especially since, I'm assuming, you told him you were over Grissom, and then, there he sees him kissing you."

"You're very blunt, did you know that?" Sara said. The blonde opened her mouth to apologise, but Sara just shook her head. "It's a good thing. Keeps things in perspective to think of it analytically."

"Alright then...but if it bothers you, tell me, okay?" After getting a nod from Sara, Sofia continued. "So, how'd you go about trying to talk to Nick, exactly?"

"Calmed down a bit first. Played some music." _Let's not mention the Kelly Clarkson just yet_, she thought to herself. "Then I called him, got the machine. I figured he didn't want to talk to me, so I went over, 'cause Warrick said to try to talk to him in person. I got there and asked him to let me in, he wouldn't, he said go back to the lab, to..." She could feel tears starting again at the memory of those words coming from Nick. "Never mind. But I told him he didn't understand, to let me explain, and he shut the door and locked it."

"Seems to me you're both still pretty riled up," Sofia replied. "I know you never take sick days...How about you take one, calm down, it'll give you both some distance, and then go back to his house after shift. I'll try and talk to him, if you want."

"That sounds good."

"And I'm going to repeat what I said earlier about you not looking so good, you've never willingly taken a sick day in your life I imagine," Sofia teased, trying to bring a smile to her...friend? Co-worker? Whatever. Trying to bring a smile to Sara's face.

"That's about right," Sara replied with a small smile. Both women stood at the same time, not moving, looking at eachother. "Thanks." Sara said simply, holding out her hand.

"You're welcome," Sofia answered, reaching out to shake the offered hand. And both knew in that moment that something had changed, and maybe- just maybe- they'd become friends.

----------------

**Author's Note: **Another chapter done. Muahaha. ;-)

**Review Thanks: **_heartagram69_: Nope, sorry, angst not quite done -devil face- but don't worry. _Baby23-Misery_: Oh, he'll let her explain. Eventually. _DarkDreamer56_: I haven't actually heard the whole CD yet(I'm getting it for Christmas, my mum said) but my friend made me listen to that song and it just stuck. Glad you like the story so far :-)

**Up Next: **Sofia's thoughts about Grissom now that she's heard Sara's story... What will Nick think when both Sofia and Warrick gang up on him about Sara? And will Sara finally get her chance to explain it all?


End file.
